Richards L. "Dick" Richards, age 89, of Mayhill, New Mexico, died Thursday, October 6, 2022 in Muleshoe, Texas. He was born April 8, 1933 in Utica, New York to Richard and Erma (Williams) Richards Sr. He married Mary Axe in Garland, Texas on August 22, 1954.
Dick served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He then attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. He began his ministry as a Methodist minister in June of 1957. He served churches in Grassland, Lela, Dozier, Heald, Becton, Lakeview, Fargo, Odell, Wildcat, Goree, Plainview, Abilene Grace, Abilene Hamby, Knox City, Ralls and Bovina, all in Texas. He then moved to the New Mexico conference and served at Jal, Carlsbad, Las Cruces and Fort Sumner, New Mexico and finally to Van Horn and Sierra Blanca, Texas. During his tenure as a minister, Dick learned to weigh cotton and some farming, like plowing, even though, he barely knew what corn growing in the field looked like. He also learned to drive a school bus and janitor for schools. He could pitch a tent and start a campfire, but his sailing abilities were questionable, if you ever asked his wet passengers. Dick and Mary became EMT’s and used their talents in Ralls and also started the volunteer ambulance service in Bovina. While Dick thought of himself as a decent mechanic, his passion was spreading the Word of the Lord. Even after his retirement, he joined the church in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, where he continued his ministry he started while in the military. Dick is preceded in death by his wife of almost 68 years, Mary; his parents, Richard and Erma Richards (Worden); his step-father, Al Worden; a grandson, Chad Bales; and two sisters.
Dick is survived by his son, Scott Richards and his wife Sherrie of Amarillo, Texas; his three daughters, Kathi Richards of League City, Texas, Lori Bales and her husband, Kem of Muleshoe, Texas and Jeanna MacLean of Lubbock, Texas; his sister, Phyllis Binswanger of Yorba Linda, California; his four grandchildren; and his six and ½ great-grandchildren.